We entered the populated inn, it was bustling with people drinking and just having an all around good time. There were conversations happening everywhere, it was like a white noise of sorts.

I looked around for an empty table before eventually spotting one and heading to it. Rio held onto my shirt and his eyes jittered around like he was nervous.

A few moments after we sat down, a waitress came to our table and started to speak, “Welcome boys, you two are some new faces, what can I get for ya’s?” She had a friendly voice with a country accent.

“Mm…Do you have any recommendations? It’s our first time here.” I asked.

“Well to drink we got just about anything you can shove down y’alls pipes. From water to some throat burners. Though, you two don’t look old enough to drink just yet, but if you really want some, I could sneak ya a little.”

“I’m thinking maybe water for me, how about you, Rio?”

“Oh-um…um…me too…” He mumbled.

“Two waters please.”

“Sure can do. I’ll give y’alls a little menu so you can read over it in the meantime.” She put a piece of paper on the table before heading off.

“Um…Leo, are you sure this is alright…?” Rio asked nervously.

“Huh? Is what alright?”

“…Can we afford this place? We don’t have much money left…” After he asked, I could hear his stomach start to rumble. There was a scent of maple syrup that lingered throughout the building, it smelt really good.

“Yeah, it’s fine. This place is cheap.” I responded before ruffling his hair, he had looked like a scared cat.

I started to read over the menu, speaking as I looked through the options, “Do any of these interest you?” I asked.

“Um…I don’t know…”

“Mm?”

“…I can’t read…”

“Ah-well, there’s pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, soup, sausages, bread, any of those catch your eye?”

“Um…I’ll have what you have.”

“Alright.” After I finished speaking, the waitress came back with 2 mugs filled with water. They were wooden mugs like the ones you’d usually see beer in.

“Here you go boys, did y’alls finish looking over the menu? Any things you craving?” She asked.

Because of the smell of maple syrup that lingered, I started to think of one particular food, “Can we get 2 pancake meals?” I asked.

“Yes, you can, I’ll go put an order in with Mr. Hills right now.”

“Thanks.”

My throat felt a little dry, so I immediately picked the mug up by the handle and started to drink. In just three swigs I had downed the whole thing, I was thirstier than I thought.

Rio looked at me with awe before picking up the mug, wrapping both of his hands around it and starting to drink. He quickly drank the whole thing before releasing a breath of relief as if he just chugged a good beer.

“You were pretty thirsty.” I commented and he immediately started to look a little embarrassed.

“Haha…” He chuckled before continuing, “What did she mean by throat burners?” He asked.

“Alcohol. Though, you’re not allowed any.”

“Oh, okay… Alcohol, huh? Why do they call it throat burners?”

“The higher-proof ones make your throat feel like it’s burning as you drink it.”

“Huh? Then why would anyone drink it?”

“When you drink enough, you eventually get drunk and some people like the feeling of being drunk.”

“I see…”

A short while later, the waitress came back with two hot plates of pancakes with bacon on the sides of them.

“Nice and hot, here y’alls go. Do any of y’all want some syrup or will y’alls just eat it raw?” She asked after putting the plates in front of us.

There were 2 pancakes with butter on them stacked on top of each other and 3 slices of bacon next to it.

“We’ll have some syrup.”

“I knew you two’s were real. Here y’alls go. I’ll bring some more water.” She took two small bottles of syrup and placed them on the table before taking the mugs and heading away.

Rio looked at the food with glistening eyes, he looked like a puppy waiting to eat. His mouth was watering as he smelt the food.

“Have you had these before?” I asked.

He wiped his mouth before replying, “No, never.”

“Well then, you should try some with and without syrup.”

“O-okay!” As he started to move his hands to pick up the pancake, I stopped him and spoke, “Use the utensils, your hands will get messy if you don’t.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.” He picked up the utensils weirdly, as if he’s never used them before and started to eat. As he took his first bite, his eyes opened even wider as he quickly took another bite and tried to gobble it down.

“Here, try some syrup too.” I poured a little bit of syrup on his pancakes, and he took a bite of it before his eyes glistened again. He immediately finished eating his pancakes, stuffing them down his throat as if he was a vacuum.

He pounded on his chest with his fist as if he was choking before the waitress came back and put the mugs back on the table. Rio quickly gulped down the water before releasing a breath of relief.

“Wow, looks like someone was thirsty, haha, I’ll go gets another one for ya.” The waitress said before taking his empty mug.

“I guess you like the syrup.” I commented.

“That was the best meal I’ve ever eaten! Thank you!” Rio responded.

“You still got the bacon to eat.”

“Huh? I can eat that?”

“Yeah, some people like their bacon with syrup but personally I don’t, you should try it and see.”

“Oh-okay, I’ll eat it without the syrup too then.”

“Up to you.”

He immediately gobbled down the bacon as well, patting his stomach after he finished eating.

I quickly finished my meal too. It was some of the best food I’ve ever had.

The waitress came to our table and started to speak, “Alrights, is that all y’alls wanted to have today? If so, your total will be 20 copper, you can pay at the front.”

10 Copper coins a meal, one of the best parts I had written about this place. Man am I glad that I didn’t make it stupidly overpriced.

“That’ll be it, thank you. I’ll go pay now.” I replied.

“Alrighty! Thank y’alls for coming, have a blessed day.” She replied before going to the next table.

I felt a tug on my shirt, “Thank you for taking us here. The food was delicious…” Rio said with a soft voice.

“We’ll be here often, you’ll be able to eat like that every day.”

He looked at me with wide-open eyes before changing the subject, “What was step 3?” He asked.

“We’re doing it now.” I replied before standing up and heading towards the counter.

“Good evening! Rachel told me about your order, 20 copper please!” She said with a friendly voice.

I gave her our last silver coin and she gave me my change back.

“Is there anything else, did you two want to rent a room or anything?”

“Yeah, um…Jennette Cloudsly, I want to meet her for a business proposition.” I replied bluntly.

“Huh-oh-um… One second, Sir, I need to check with her.” She headed towards the back as Rio looked at me with a shocked face,

“Huh? Leo? What are you doing?”

“Business. It should make us some money.”

“How?”

“Music.”

Soon after, the worker came back to the counter with a lady by her side, she was taller than me and had curly blonde hair, she had fair skin and gave off a scary vibe. It was Jennette Cloudsly.

“These are the kids?”

“Yes, Miss.” The worker replied and Jennette turned towards me, “Follow me.”

She led us upstairs into a room behind a wooden door. There was a desk and a couple of chairs in front of it. It seemed like a boss’s office.

She took a seat in her chair and Rio, and I took a seat in the chairs in front of her.

Jennette immediately started to speak with a stern voice, “You know what happens when I dislike someone, right?”

Rio was shaking in his chair, he was nervous and scared. Even people in the slums had known of Jennette’s personality, ruthless, rude, and would even kick a royal out. Though, of course that was very exaggerated. She was a business-woman through and through.

“Of course, Ms. Cloudsly.” I replied, I was calm. Maybe it was my ‘Peace of Mind’ skill, but I wasn’t nervous whatsoever.

“Oh? I heard you called my out by name downstairs.”

“I heard you like ballsy men. If I didn’t, would we even be talking?”

“Hm…? Haha! I like your confidence. Now, what do you propose.”

“I don’t really like to brag, but I like to think I have a pretty good singing voice.”

Though I’ve only sang one time in this world so far…

“What?”

“In fact, I think my voice could even attract a demon.”

“What are you trying to say here?”

Something I remembered from my previous world was that places like restaurants and hotels would play music. I didn’t exactly look into it, but I assume there was at least one study that said that people would stay and more likely to be a repeat customer if there was music. I didn’t exactly know how this worked, but I figured a business-woman would.

“Don’t you think some music would help?”

“Elaborate.”

“Let’s say there were two apple stalls right across from each other, one with music, one without. One of these stalls will have a nice song to go along with buying an apple, while the other would have silence. Which of these stalls do you think would have a repeat customer?”

I had completely pulled this analogy out of my ass. I probably should of prepared a bit more before going into this conversation, but oh well. If it didn’t work, we were probably screwed.

Jennette closed her eyes and started to think.

“Leo…Are you sure this is going to work?” Rio whispered into my ear.

“I have no fucking idea.”

We were sitting in silence for a minute or two before Jennette opened her eyes, “Are you saying, you could be that singer?” She asked.

It seemed like she ran some sort of calculations in her head. Luckily it seemed like my plan somehow worked.

“I’d like to think so.”

“Sing a song.”

I smiled, “Okay.” I replied, taking a deep breath before starting to sing, “I’ll wait for the sky to change, a brighter day comes along with rain~”

I sang another song from my world, they were the only ones I knew by heart. I should probably learn some songs from this world, but that’ll come later down the line.

“Hm, what do you want?” She smirked before asked.

“Mm?”

“To be hired, what are your conditions.”

“Give us a room and some money.”

“Deal.” She immediately replied and we shook hands.

Rio looked at me before jumping up and down with excitement, “Leo! You did it!”

“No, we did it, idiot.” I couldn’t help but smile.

Jennette and I worked out the details for a little while until we finally came to a conclusion.

She took us to a double room and told us to get some rest for today, we’d start working tomorrow.

I immediately flopped down on one of the beds and sunk into the mattress, it felt like heaven compared to the grass from yesterday.

“This feels great…You should lay down too.”

Rio flopped onto the bed and laid next to me.

“…On the other bed, dummy. Haha.” I laughed.

“Oh! Sorry.” He stood up before flopping onto the other bed, also sinking into the mattress.

An hour went by quickly, as it felt like I was floating on top of clouds. Shortly after, I heard a knock at our door before it opened.

It was Jennette, “Here, I’ve got you two your uniforms for tomorrow.” She put them on a dresser in front of our beds.

“Thanks.” I replied.

“T-thank you…” Rio quietly replied with a nervous voice.

“Do some good work tomorrow, boys.” She smiled before heading out.

I sat up and looked towards Rio, “Let’s practice speaking, since you’re going to be a waiter, you’re going to need to be less nervous.”

“O-okay. I’ll try!”

“Alright, that’s the spirit.” I smiled.

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